Lesson 1: Caregiver And Infant Interactions Flashcards
What is developmental psychology?
It is a branch of psychology concerned with the PROGRESSIVE BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES that occur in individuals across their lifespan
What is meant by attachment?
Attachment is an EMOTIONAL BOND between two people. It is a two way process that endured over time
What is meant by reciprocity
It is a two way mutual process in which each party responds to the other’s signals in order to sustain interaction. The behaviour of each party ELICITS a response from one another.
What is interactional synchrony
The process in which the CAREGIVER and INFANT interact in such a way that their actions and emotions MIRROR off each other
What did MELTZOFF and MOORE investigate about interactional synchrony?
(Hint= facial expressions)
Meltzoff and Moore found that infants as young as TWO or THREE weeks imitated specific facial expressions and hand gestures they saw adults do.
What was the procedure of meltzoff and Moore’s experiment
(Hint= dummy)
During the experiment a dummy was placed in the infants mouth in order to prevent any response
-The dummy was then removed after the adult displayed their facial expressions and hand movements, and the infant’s expression was filmed.
What was concluded from the interactional synchrony experiment?
Research concluded that there was a RELATION between the infant’s behaviour and the adult model.
State one positive evaluation of caregiver and infant interactions
(Hint= innate)
+ INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY has been demonstrated in several studies
* Meltzoff and Moore found that infants as young as 2-3 weeks were imitating gestures displayed by an ADULT MODEL.
* This suggests that imitation behaviours are not learned they are INNATE
State another positive evaluation of caregiver and infant interactions
(Hint= video monitor)
MURRAY and TRETHARVEN got mothers to interact with their babies over a VIDEO MONITOR.
In the next part of the study the babies were played a tape of their mother so she was not responding to them.
The babies continued to attempt to attract their mother’s attention, but when this failed they GAVE UP RESPONDING.
This shows that babies want their mothers to RECIPROCATE
State another positive evaluation of caregiver and infant interactions
(Hint= puppet)
ABRAVANAL and DEYONG observed infant behaviour when interacting with a puppet that looked like a human mouth open and closing.
Infants made little response to this which shows they are NOT just imitating what they see; INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY is a specific social response.
State a negative evaluation of caregiver and infant interactions
(Hint = inferences)
Babies can not COMMUNICATE so psychologists are relying on their INFERENCES
They cannot be sure that infants are actually trying to communicate.
State another negative evaluation of infant and caregiver interactions
(Hint = deliberate imitation)
The expressions tested (e.g tongue sticking out, yawning and smiling) are gestures infants FREQUENTLY MAKE
Therefore it is difficult to be certain that they are deliberately imitating what they saw.
